closet
Americannoun
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closets
plural
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a small room, enclosed recess, or cabinet for storing clothing, food, utensils, etc.
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a small private room, especially one used for prayer, meditation, etc.
-
a state or condition of secrecy or carefully guarded privacy.
Some conservatives remain in the closet except on election day. Gay liberation has encouraged many gay people to come out of the closet.
adjective
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private; secluded.
-
suited for use or enjoyment in privacy.
closet reflections; closet prayer.
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engaged in private study or speculation; speculative; unpractical.
a closet thinker with no practical experience.
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being or functioning as such in private; secret.
a closet anarchist.
verb (used with object)
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closets,
present (3rd person singular)
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closeted,
past participle, past
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closeting
present participle
noun
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a small cupboard or recess
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a small private room
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short for water closet
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(modifier) private or secret
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(modifier) suited or appropriate for use in private
closet meditations
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(modifier) based on or devoted to theory; speculative
a closet strategist
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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closetsimple
-
closetssimple
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have closetedperfect
-
has closetedperfect
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am closetingprogressive
-
are closetingprogressive
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is closetingprogressive
-
have been closetingperfect progressive
-
has been closetingperfect progressive
Past
-
closetedsimple
-
had closetedperfect
-
was closetingprogressive
-
were closetingprogressive
-
had been closetingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of closet
1300–50; Middle English < Anglo-French, Middle French, equivalent to clos close (noun) + -et -et
Vocabulary lists containing closet
List 1
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"The Tragedy of Hamlet," Vocabulary from Act 2
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
And yet I now had a wedding dress in my closet.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
It is still a pleasant surprise when I open the door to my shop or office or closet to find a tidy workbench or desk—or to see the actual closet floor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
There is a particular brand of confidence required to assure party leaders and voters that one has no more skeletons in one’s closet, as Platner did before several more disquieting allegations emerged.
From Slate ● Aug. 1, 2026
In the 12th-floor model unit, the steel framework has even been turned into closet shelving.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
Mom peeked into the closet and under the bed.
From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Since retiring, we have settled into a slow-and-steady approach to downsizing, habitually scrutinizing drawers and closets and storage boxes anytime we open them, looking around rooms for little things to pass along.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
Thirty years ago L.A. firefighters found children sleeping in closets and babies snoozing in dresser drawers.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2026
They are cutting back where they feel prices have risen too far—primarily the stuff that fills their closets, living room and garage.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026
At the time, the unit had three wood-burning fireplaces, 21 closets, a private elevator, a chef’s kitchen, a private library, and a formal dining room.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 22, 2026
This meant tackling the garage, closets, the storage shed in the backyard.
From "The Miseducation of Cameron Post" by emily m. danforth
We wanted to be mysterious and be closeted, and Katie was the one who encouraged us not to, and to just be ourselves.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
“It kind of siphoned all of that pent-up, closeted stuff that you hold back, that you couldn’t freely express,” she said.
From Slate ● May 4, 2026
"I thought a lot about how difficult it would be to be a closeted pro player."
From Barron's ● Jan. 15, 2026
It’s a stunning moment, and one of the show’s most memorable scenes, because it earnestly captures the silent yearning that comprises so much of the gay experience, especially for closeted gay men.
From Salon ● Jan. 2, 2026
Now he was closeted there either loafing or thinking because I didn’t hear his typewriter.
From "Kindred" by Octavia Butler
That there exists so recent and clear an example of purposeful Hollywood closeting helps explain, to a certain extent, how these narratives can take hold.
From Slate ● Jul. 25, 2019
If nothing else, it’s smarter closeting strategy—people are going to get a lot more suspicious if every time they see him with you, he starts stammering and shoving you out of view.
From Slate ● Mar. 8, 2016
And because he is closeting up his doubts and fears, his subsequent eruptions into madness, when words abruptly morph into howls, have a harrowing logic.
From New York Times ● Jun. 5, 2014
“We have no visibility, people are dying, and this whole world is just closeting everything.”
From Washington Post
No more closeting;, she could have one part of Old Chao, Janis and the children another.
From "Typical American" by Gish Jen
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
